Read My Lips: This Is Propaganda

Campaign promises are some of the most obvious forms of propaganda, and they are rarely kept. They simply exist as fluff, an empty promise to try and keep people on the candidate’s side in order to be elected. However, in the case of George H.W Bush, his major campaign promise was also his major platform. “Read my lips: no new taxes”. This was beyond a campaign promise, it was an entire economic platform, and it was designed to appeal to a base of people who had become used to the way of life under Reagan’s economic policies. Bush appealed to that sense of economic security and the general boom that happened under Reagan, riding on that for the entirety of his campaign.

So was it really propaganda? The short answer is yes, but when you break it down it was far more intricate than it seems on the surface. The first is the sense of power that it puts in the hands of the president, that he is the sole precedent for passing and creating new taxes. This is of course not strictly true given that any bills on taxes must pass through the house and the senate, it will eventually pass over his desk. The president can be overruled however, so he isn’t nearly as powerful as he seemed from the outright. However the imagery that it is his word, from his lips, that will stop any new taxes is a powerful tool in swaying the masses.

It also works as a politically charged system to maintain status quo. In specific his choice of words: no NEW taxes. Many politicians come before and behind promising to either remove or create more taxes in order to try and balance out the economic system. Democrats, in general, lean more towards economic control an the institution of more taxes in order to improve the public welfare. Republicans tend to lean more towards a reduction in taxes in order to promote financial freedom, so that more people can invest and the economy can grow. Bush’s appeal would have swayed more moderate democrats to his side, as he did not wish to disrupt what was perceived to be a steady economic system.

This catch phrase was used in conjunction with a positive social image, making Bush seem like a powerful public figure in and out of the government, which he eventually would be. However, even the best laid plans can screw up on the mortar. Eventually Bush had to relent on his promise, which from the future perspective makes it seem even more strongly like a vacuous campaign promise. Once again, propaganda fluff meant to sway.